𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍 ✔

❝ 𝐈𝐅 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐎. ❞

if i had known you hadn't have come,
i would have slept already.
but it became late at night,
i see the moon, which goes down.

character's POV

  AS EARLY AS 10:30 in the middle of the night, I'm already situated in the same chair, with the same pose, in the same shop. The way it rained tonight was beautiful, I thought with a smile. Perhaps he/she'll find it lovely, too.

"Hey, Fergie," I call out the shopkeeper's name, seemingly in a daze. He hummed in response. "Do you think the lad/lady's gonna come around tonight?"

I could feel his stare on mine. I was 50/50 sure he either had one hell of a crease on his forehead from even the slightest frown his brows made from having entered the "second puberty," or a boring look that felt uncomfortable once you were aware of it boring holes in your skull. I sigh, none of it mattered at the moment—my mind was somewhere else; different from what I usually thought of.

"What do you think, you cheeky boy/lass?" He finally turned his back on me after trying to give me his version of a soul-searching look.

"Forgot what he/she told you already?"

My eyes shot up at him, but he was busy wiping some bowls from the sink. "What do you mean?"

"He/She wished for rain tonight so she could come here again," he replied as a matter-of-factly. I could sense his smirk for remembering it more than me, who was way younger than him. I rolled my eyes in return. Fergie never wanting to get old made him look even more of a senile old crank. Pfft, scratch the senile, actually. It makes me feel bad for him.

"Because like the cliches of youngster love, the two of you need to talk more. Y'know, get the hormones and phero-something going. Stuff like that."

"We don't even know each other's names," I retorted, but I actually gave his statement a little more thought. "For all I know, his/her name could be Freddie, or maybe Herbert. Hey, I know someone named Herbert from the next town who was called 'Herbert the Pervert' by everyone there. Poor guy—turns out he's actually happily married with ten kids plus three because his wife is pregnant with triplets."

Fergie burst out laughing. "I think Herbert the Pervert does suit him after all. Poor woman."

After that, I ordered my usual and had a little chat with a few of the old people inside. Nobody was a new customer, so I had no one to have fun talking with, unlike the stranger. He/She was fun to talk with. He/She was handsome/pretty, too. My head heaved out a big mental sigh once I managed to return to my old spot. I felt even more upset than I already was.

"Hey, geezer," I cried. "Where is he/she? Everyone's so boring to talk to. Like, whO the fuck holds a conversation about growing zinnias for hours? Holy shit, save me the idle chat, please."

"The problem is that you—" Fergie, who was running out of patience, turned around with an irritated scowl and flicked my forehead hard, "—are impatient. Honestly, the boy/girl has a boy/girlfriend, and it seems that they have a lot of issues. Don't expect him/her to just frolic around and make a grand entrance as if he/she was single. For all we know, the poor boy/girl's probably being treated like trash right now."

From what I could only guess the fifteenth sigh left my lips in despair, and it'd been just an hour since I came here. Nothing eventful was happening at all. I laid my head against the counter and squeezed my eyes shut. Trying to picture him/her being treated like shit, or worse, abused, made me very sad. And angry, honestly speaking. The stranger looked like he/she wanted to have fun in Japan, too. If only I continually asked him/her to go sightseeing with me today, I think I'd be lucky enough to see a beautiful smile from his/her lips. He/She doesn't do it enough. Even if he/she did, though, I doubt it was real.

"Oi, old man," I propped myself back up on my chair and straightened my back. A wave of determination filled me up to the brim all of a sudden, and I felt obliged to wait. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I wasn't going to pass up a promise he/she made. Hell, I shouldn't even hold onto what he/she said—the boy/girl was a stranger! But somehow, through all the 'stranger danger' blah blah people say everywhere, there was just a part of me that wanted to do otherwise and wanted to stay.

"I think I'll have seconds. I'm gonna wait for him/her and go somewhere worth seeing at this late hour if it's the last thing I'll do."

And so time passed by slowly. Every minute I'd look over to the door to see if the familiar silhouette of him/her was standing outside in the rain, only to be deceived by yet another hallucination my brain had.

Fergie was on the lookout too, since he seemed bothered to see my 'discouraging' look every time he'd turn around from the kitchen. He said anyone would feel the same way he did if they got a good glimpse of my face, which was definitely not my fault. I was just a lonely customer, who happened to be waiting for my new favorite person, who may or may not show up at all.

***

1:34 AM

I felt a hand nagging on my shoulder. "Kid..."

Slowly, I open my eyes and let out a sleepy groan. I felt super tired, even though I apparently had just woken up from a long nap. That irritated me a lot.

I rubbed my eyes to rid of the urge to close them again. "What do you want? Wait, what time is it?"

Fergie looked down on his wristwatch and frowned. "It's past one. I can't close the shop with you still around."

My heart sank all the way down to my stomach. I began to panic. What if I slept through everything, and the stranger actually went here without me knowing? Argh, I knew it was a bad idea to pass time by sleeping. "The boy/girl, did she..?"

Fergie gave me a hard stare before turning his back against me. "Sorry, kid," The hint of pity in his voice made my stomach churn, and I instantly knew what he meant.

"He/She didn't come here at all."

[ a/n ; this was spontaneously written, so expect a lot of errors! stay tuned~ ]